


For Luck

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Matchmaking, Winter Solstice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 18:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13172694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: BB-8 had always been a bit of a meddler; in retrospect, Rey probably should have figured out that the droid had ulterior motives in getting her to spend more time with Poe a lot sooner than she did.





	For Luck

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lannisterslioness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannisterslioness/gifts).



> For the damerey secret santa, for the prompt BB-8 playing matchmaker in time for Rey's first Christmas. I've fudged it a bit and made it the solstice instead. :)

“Blast it, Beebee, why won’t it start?” Rey exclaimed in frustration, smacking her hand on the _Millennium Falcon’s_ control panel.

Unfortunately that didn’t do anything, either. The ship remained unresponsive.

BB-8 beeped worriedly. _[Maybe you need help, Friend-Rey.]_

“I can’t let Chewie know I’ve broken the _Falcon,_ ” Rey said, though that was only part of it.

Rey couldn’t face Chewbacca knowing that she had failed, that she couldn’t fix this, couldn’t even figure out what was wrong. Chewie trusted her, and Rey wasn’t used to failure. Failure on Jakku meant nothing good.

BB-8 produced a tiny flickering hologram.

Rey frowned. “Poe?”

No. Poe was worse; how could Rey admit to him that she couldn’t get her own ship in the air? Well, sort of her own ship. Technically it was Chewie’s.

_[Partner-Poe enjoys helping.]_

“Yes, but--”

 _[He enjoys helping you!]_ BB-8 seemed to mean that with particular emphasis; Rey was a bit befuddled.

“Poe is busy; I can’t bother him with something so--”

_[Partner-Poe has finished a meeting and now has two standard hours free.]_

Eyeing BB, Rey said, “You seem to have thought about this.”

Whirling around swiftly, BB-8 made his way down the corridor. _[I will retrieve him for you!]_

“Beebee, I don’t think that’s--” Rey sighed. “Oh, whatever.”

It would be fine, probably. Poe was nice enough not to judge, even if Rey was going to be horribly embarrassed to admit she needed help. Poe was also fun, and he was an amazing mechanic, so getting to work on the _Falcon_ with him might actually be a good time.

Poe was one of the things Rey liked best about the Resistance, honestly, but that was another one of those things she didn’t want to admit. She definitely wasn’t going to admit it to BB-8 because BB-8 would just tell Poe and that would be humiliating.

“Okay, okay, Beebee, I’m going, stars,” Poe’s voice echoed through the corridors, getting louder before he appeared in the cockpit with BB-8 prodding him incessantly.

Poe offered Rey an awkward smile and pushed a hand through his thick hair. “Hey. Heard you could use a hand?”

Rey appreciated the opening; it meant she could delve in with what she needed without having to spend any time embarrassedly explaining why he was here. “The _Falcon_ ’s dead, but it makes no logical sense. There’s nothing wrong with the systems, I just can’t get in. Like I’m locked out.”

“Huh,” Poe said, and sat down in the co-pilot’s chair. He began running through things but not like he was checking up on her or like he didn’t trust her, more like he was just getting his own hands on it for thoroughness. He talked as he went, asking for Rey’s findings and input. It was one of the things Rey loved best about him, how surely he gave people his respect when they displayed competence, no matter who they were - even when they were young women from nowhere.

“And nothing at all has changed recently? No one else would have been messing around?”

Rey shrugged. “No, just me and Chewie. Beebee.”

Poe darted a glance back at his droid for a second, and BB-8 rolled farther behind the chairs.

“It just looks like it needs a voice override,” Poe mused, poking his head back up from beneath the panel and flicking a few switches. 

“Voice command?” Rey exclaimed. “The _Falcon_ is too junky for voice command!”

“You said it, not me,” Poe said with a grin. “The wiring’s new. You didn’t do it?”

“Of course not! Why would I have? And why wouldn’t I have known if I did it?”

“Right. Chewbacca didn’t mention anything?”

“He would have told me.”

“Weird,” Poe said, chewing on his lip. “Try saying something.”

Rey blinked at the panel, leaning in to the radio. “Er. _Millennium Falcon?_ Please work?”

Nothing happened.

Poe chuckled. “Come on, baby,” he said, stroking the ship. “It should be keyed to you, Rey. Even if Chewie forgot to tell you, I can’t believe he would lock you out on purpose.”

“He wouldn’t.” Rey knew that Chewie never would. They were partners. “Why don’t you try?”

Blinking at her, Poe said, “Me? Why would that work?” But he mouthed, _what the hell_ , and leaned in, his head close to Rey’s. “This is Poe,” Poe said, making a questioning face and shrugging at Rey. He seemed as surprised as she was when the panel suddenly lit up.

“Seriously?” Rey said.

Poe looked back at BB again. “Beebee, pal, give me some honesty here, ‘cause this really looks like your handiwork.”

BB-8 swiveled his head-piece, the big round optical sensor somehow giving an impression of guilt. He made a sound that roughly translated to, _uh-oh._

“Beebee!” Rey said. “Did you do it? Then why didn’t you just say so? And… and… why?”

_[So you would spend time together.]_

Poe and Rey blinked at each other. Rey’s mouth twitched.

Poe said, “Buddy, this sure was a convoluted way to go about telling me you think Rey and I should be best pals.”

BB-8 emitted the binary equivalent of a sulky, vocal shrug.

“And don’t go fooling around with the _Falcon,_ okay? How would you feel if some other droid messed with _Black One_ without our permission?”

The droid rocked back, clearly horrified.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Poe rubbed BB-8’s metal dome. “Now fix what you did, and Rey and I will go run down to the mess for some food. If that’s all right with you, Rey.”

“Sure,” Rey said, smiling.

BB-8’s dejected bearing righted itself and he went at his task with good cheer.

Poe laughed and patted BB-8 again before gesturing to Rey. “Shall we?”

Rey spent the next hour in laughter and good conversation and by the time she returned to the _Falcon_ everything was in working order, sans voice command, so all things considered, she couldn’t be too irritated with BB-8. Or, if Rey was perfectly honest, at all irritated, when she lay in bed that night and her thoughts lingered on Poe’s smile and the way his eyes crinkled when he was happy.

-

“Hey,” Poe said from behind Rey, making her glance back at him.

“Hi,” she said, smiling, before returning to her work.

“Beebee said the console in here was busted so I figured I’d take a look, see if I could do anything before bothering the techs, but looks like you’ve got it covered.”

Rey frowned, closing the panel. “Beebee knew I was in here. General Organa asked me.”

Poe looked down towards his feet, where BB-8 had been, but the droid was nowhere to be seen. “He did, huh?”

“Suppose he thought I couldn’t do it on my own.” The thought stung, which was stupid. BB-8 was only a droid. Still, though.

“Or he’s still trying to get us to hang out more,” Poe offered.

“We could do that without Beebee shutting us into a room,” Rey suggested before she could realize what words were coming out of her mouth. Blast.

But Poe was saying, “We could.”

“I mean, if you’re not busy. I know you’re busy.”

“Says the girl who’s been functioning as a pilot, a mechanic, and a Jedi,” Poe teased.

“Okay, we’re busy,” Rey relented.

“Since you’ve already repaired the console,” Poe said, leaning against the door, “I’m free for a bit. Want to have a quick race? _Black One_ versus the _Falcon_? Loser buys dinner?”

“Dinner’s free in the mess.”

“Loser serves the other dinner.”

“You’re on,” Rey said, grabbing Poe’s arm as she swept out the door.

-

Poe served Rey her dinner that night, bowing before her with a tray outstretched and a cheeky grin on his face.

Three days later, though, Rey had to serve Poe’s dinner for him, and he gave her the same smile.

Rey liked that smile a ridiculous amount.

-

On Jakku, it was mostly the same all year. Hot and dry, dropping temperatures at night, and the occasional _X’us’R’iia_. Rey wasn’t used to planets that had variable seasons, like the one they were on now. When they had first arrived, the weather had been chilly but mild, but now it was cold enough that you couldn’t go outside without bundling up and Rey’s favorite part of the day was when she got to burrow beneath her covers to sleep.

Today was the winter solstice, Kaydel told her. The longest night of the year. Though the planet had been uninhabited before the Resistance made their base here, everyone from similar planets had brought their own traditions with them, including solstice celebrations. The result was a pleasant sort of mish-mash.

It was nice, Rey thought, and certainly no one was going to object to an excuse for a party. General Organa had even sanctioned the consumption of a small amount of alcohol, in addition to glowwine that she had produced with a twinkle in her eye and a refusal to admit to her sources. The base was operating with a minimum of personnel, with staff rotating through in shifts so everyone could enjoy themselves throughout the night.

Rey was having fun, dancing with Finn beside Rose and Kaydel when BB-8 rushed up to her, loud and insistent.

BB-8 was whistling in binary almost too quickly for Rey to follow; she knelt down. “Something special?” she said. “Where?”

 _[Come with me!]_ BB-8 instructed, and Rey shrugged helplessly at Finn.

“Could be important,” Finn said with a look like he knew something – or at least, suspected something – but wasn’t going to say.

Rey briefly considered wheedling it out of him but then decided she would find out soon enough regardless. Let him keep his secrets. “I’ll find you later,” she said, and went with BB-8.

The droid led her to a less crowded spot on the other side of the room before saying, _[Please wait here, Friend-Rey!]_

“But what am I waiting for?” Rey tried, but BB-8 had already sped off. She sighed. “It better actually be special, Beebee,” she muttered.

She was observing the beings around her when she heard a familiar voice; she turned just in time to react to Poe falling into her as BB-8 nudged his legs with his round body.

“Stars,” she said, catching Poe’s arms as he toppled against her.

“Sorry, sorry,” Poe was saying as he righted himself; Rey couldn’t help but breathe in the sweet scent of his hair. “Beebee, that was rude, apologize; you can’t just push people into each other.”

BB-8 whistled something inappropriate that Rey giggled at.

Poe looked appalled. “That’s still rude, Beebee, stop listening to Artoo, he’s a terrible influence.”

BB-8 did his best impression of complete and utter innocence. Poe shook his head but he was smiling a little. “I really am sorry, Rey.”

“It’s okay,” Rey said, and reached out to finger the ring on the end of the chain around Poe’s neck; it had slipped out of his collar when he stumbled. “This is beautiful.”

Poe’s expression went soft and intimate. “It was my mother’s.”

 _[It’s for the person he loves,]_ BB-8 supplied helpfully.

“Quiet,” Poe muttered, reddening. He tucked the ring back beneath his shirt, where it would lay against his chest.

“That’s sweet,” Rey said. She had never had a mother to love; she thought it must be nice.

She wondered what sort of a person Poe would think deserved his mother’s ring, and it made her inexplicably sad for a moment.

 _[Maybe they are on this base,]_ BB-8 added, and Poe exclaimed, “Beebee!”

Rey had never seen Poe look so uncomfortable. She said, “I didn’t know you were seeing someone,” and didn’t understand why she felt yet sadder.

“I’m not; Beebee just has far too big an imagination for a droid. Memory wipe, buddy.”

BB-8 didn’t appear at all bothered by this threat, likely because he knew Poe would never follow through. Even Rey knew Poe was too soft for that; he adored BB.

“He told me he had something special to show me,” Rey said, eyeing BB-8. “Suppose he forgot.”

“Easily distracted,” Poe confirmed.

“By you, anyway,” Rey said, and Poe grinned.

“What can I say, Beebee has excellent taste.”

BB-8 chirped an affirmative before rolling in a loop around their feet. _[But my memory banks are in perfect order! I did not forget!]_

Rey frowned and began, “But then what--” She was distracted by the sight of a couple of technicians sharing a kiss just beyond Poe’s shoulder, and a pair of pilots on their other side doing the same.

Rey looked around and noticed that _everyone_ was kissing, some more enthusiastically than others. Even Finn, Rose, and Kaydel were laughing and exchanging kisses.

Confused, Rey turned to Poe. “What’s going on?”

There was a faint pinkish tinge to Poe’s cheeks. “It’s a tradition in most solstice celebrations. Kiss the one you’re with, for good luck. To help you through the long night, you know?”

“For luck?”

“Yeah, it’s stupid, it’s--”

The rest of his words disappeared in a rush of breath against Rey’s mouth as she kissed him. His lips were softer than she had expected and he tasted faintly of glowwine; he blinked his eyes open as Rey pulled back.

“We could all use some luck, right?” she said, trying not to blush. She had enjoyed that more than she thought she would, and there was a warm feeling suffused through her belly.

“Right,” Poe said, sounding a little dazed. “Um, I just, I mean, that wasn’t about me? Right place, right time? And we’re friends? Friendly kiss?”

Rey kissed him again, because it was easier than talking and it had already proven to be a surefire way to get Poe to be quiet. A soft, contented sound rumbled from deep in Poe’s chest that Rey thought she’d like to get him to make again.

“More luck?” Poe said, teasing in his voice. His hand was curled around Rey’s hip.

“Does it still work tomorrow?” Rey asked. “Maybe we could make a habit of it.”

“I suppose we’d have to experiment to find out. Research, you know.”

“Just to be thorough,” Rey agreed. She loved the humor and the warmth in Poe’s face, and the way he looked at her with affection. She wanted to kiss him a third time, to be honest, but she thought that might be pushing it to start with. “Where’s Beebee?” she asked, suddenly noticing the droid had gone off somewhere.

“He has tact sometimes,” Poe said a bit wryly. “Probably went off to find Ivee once the kissing started.”

“Of course,” Rey said, smiling. She wasn’t sure what the droid equivalent of kissing was but she hoped BB-8 was enjoying himself.

“He never told me what the important thing he needed me to see was,” Poe said. “Too busy making me collide with you.” He looked at Rey again, and then a soft smile touched his mouth. “Or maybe he did. He always was a meddler.”

“Me,” Rey said, suddenly understanding. She flushed, and Poe’s smile widened.

“Maybe he didn’t forget to show you something special after all,” he said, and Rey rolled her eyes.

“Your ego is certainly special,” she said, which made Poe laugh.

“I prefer to think of it as well-earned confidence,” he said, and kissed Rey’s cheek. “Think he must’ve been working on this for a while, though. A lot of things make more sense in context now.”

“The _Falcon,_ ” Rey pointed out. Voice command keyed to Poe, really.

“Hey, at least he knows how best to appeal to us. Ship mechanics.”

“True.”

“You might think an astromech can’t be smug but he will prove you wrong; he’s going to be horribly smug now, to warn you. And don’t…” Poe shifted his weight. “Don’t, uh, don’t take him too seriously. The ring, and everything.”

Rey leaned in, her hand on the front of Poe’s shoulder. “I’m not going to be disappointed if you don’t offer me your mother’s ring in the morning, Poe. I might be concerned if you did, really.”

Poe’s smile returned, but sheepish, this time. “No expectations?”

“None,” Rey confirmed, though she pressed in closer, her mouth almost on his. “Except I was serious about the research.”

“Me, too,” Poe said, and proved it, pressing his lips to hers.

Rey appreciated his thoroughness.


End file.
